Indian buildings fare poorly on smartness index

New Delhi: The low levels of durability and sustainability of Indian buildings points to potential risks and highlights the need for greater investments in safety and security, a survey by Honeywell and IMRB International said.

On a scale of 1 to 100, the average safety score of buildings is 21, while the national average of smartness of buildings is 33.

The survey studied 2,000 buildings, including airports, hotels, private offices, surface transport spaces, retail spaces, government offices, education centres, social spaces, public services spaces and residential spaces across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Pune.

Airports and hotels in India are the smartest buildings with an average smart score of 49 and 41, respectively. Buildings in the education and residential spaces scored the lowest at 27 and 26, respectively.

Surprisingly, the survey found that most buildings fared highest on green elements, with a national average score of 45.

Bengaluru has invested the most in smart buildings potentially due to newer construction, while Mumbai has more potential in terms of area.

This reflects “the focus on sustainability from leading global and Indian rating agencies, as well as government incentives to improve building sustainability and energy efficiency,” Honeywell said in a statement.

There is no global benchmark to compare India’s score with, as this is first such survey that Honeywell has taken up. Gradually, it plans to conduct similar surveys in other countries.